Green Depot ‘Relocates’ from the Bowery After 6 Years; Starr Steakhouse Still Fighting to Open

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Upscale dining is one step closer to opening in the belly of the Bunker.

After years on proverbial deathwatch, the Green Depot flagship at 222 Bowery last week folded up and vacated the premises. The ground-level showroom is now cleared of its contents, awaiting, by last estimation, a new steakhouse by Joe Carroll and Stephen Starr of the Starr Restaurant Group (Fette Sau, St. Anselm).

Neighbors led by the Bowery Block Association continue to allege that Starr Restaurant Group’s years-runnig bid for an “approachable steakhouse” is not legal at this address. With good reason. The proposed restaurant, tentatively called “Room 222,” apparently violates the 1987 shareholder agreement with the co-op. This caveat is the achilles heel of the overall application, which actually received approval from Community Board 2 for full liquor. The onus remains on Starr to double-check with the co-op board to see if the steakhouse jives.

The opposition, meanwhile, had presented a strong case against “public benefit” during the 500-foot hearing at the State Liquor Authority last fall. But the liquor license is still in a holding pattern…

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As for Green Depot, the store itself has “temporarily relocated” to Brooklyn, according to a handwritten sign on the door. It was a strong six-year showing for the eco-friendly hardware store. Signs of trouble – quite literally – arrived at the Bowery Bunker in the summer of 2012 when Sinvin planted leasing information to the building. The announcement has been hanging outside 222 Bowery ever since.